In no particular order . . .

 

O Pioneers! Chosen for 2013 One Book One Nebraska

The One Book One Nebraska reading program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, is now in its ninth year. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A committee of the Nebraska Center for the Book selected the finalists from a list of twelve titles nominated by sixty Nebraskans from across the state. 

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National Book Award Reading 2012

Finalists in the categories of Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction and Young People's Literature read from their work.

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The Fahrenheit 451 Jacket Design Contest

In celebration of the upcoming 60th anniversary of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Simon & Schuster invites you to design a new cover for this iconic classic.

My favorite part–there is a Tumblr where you can see the submissions!

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Introducing the BiblioMat Book Machine

The Digital Reader (via Quill & Quire) reports that The Monkey's Paw Bookstore has installed a book vending machine.

The Monkey’s Paw bills itself as “Toronto’s most idiosyncratic second-hand bookshop”, so it should come as no surprise that this bookstore has a one-of-a-kind book machine. The Biblio-mat was built by Craig Small, a friend of shop owner Stephen Fowler, and it dispenses books when customers put in $2.

The books dispensed by the machine were picked at random by Stephen, and were largely drawn from the books which would have been found in the $1-a-book bargain basket sitting out in front of most used bookstores.

Fantastic!